Aliens: Falling Inside The Black
by Nightingale's Reaper
Summary: A deep space salvage team finds a lost abandon Weyland-Yutani space station. The crew is nowhere to be found, the Salvage team figures the place is deserted, at least until people start to go missing. They realize that something is lurking in the shadowy corridors of the station…
1. Prologue

******Authors Notes: **This book does have some rather mature aspects to life and relationships. Also expect death scenes not for the faint of heart. This story is meant for older teenagers and adults. This is your only warning. Oh shit, did that pipe just move?!

**Aliens**

**Falling Inside the Black**

**By**

**Nightingale's Reaper**

**Prologue**

**Cerberus Station**

**Quietus star system, located in the Black Widow Nebula**

"Ah fuck me!" Chief engineer Salem cursed as he held his bleeding thumb.

Salem couldn't believe he fucking cut himself on the goddamn mother board to the forward FTL comm array. He swore again more profoundly in his New Orleans accent. He stuck his brown bleeding thumb in his mouth and sucked. He spat at the coppery tang of his blood. Why did he fucking do that? He shook his head. Right now he just felt like pulling the damn motherboard out and slamming it on the ground. "Fuck, now I'm going to have to file a goddamn incident and injury report." He growled.

Salem looked at the open server. He could see his blood on the sharp corner of the motherboard. He didn't understand why it was so god damn sharp. The board had to be some cheaply made piece of We-yu shit. He groaned. He needed to get the FTL comm array back online.

Salem walked back up to the server and started cleaning off the motherboard. He couldn't wait to get it done. He had to rebuild the whole server from scratch and spare parts because of some freak accident. A couple of days ago the server suffered a short that literally had all of its components blown clear out of its casing. Salem remembered it looked like a guy took a damn chainsaw to the thing. He spent the last forty-eight hours rebuilding the whole damn thing.

Salem swore again as he connected the last circuit to the power supply. If the comm array breaking wasn't enough, the station has been having personal mysteriously disappear the last couple of days. That made the station commander crawl up Salem's ass demanding that he'd fix the array as fast possible. Salem laughed, like he didn't already know that. No one respects him for the work he does on this backwater station. Every time when something breaks down they all turn to him and demand that he'd fix it. Hell even the maintenance crews under his command begs him to fix it for them.

Salem's stomach growled. He was starving and his lunch was late. One of his workers was supposed to bring a meal from the mess up to him as he finished working on the array. The bastard was late. Salem sighed, lazy good for nothings. He moved away from the server. He might as well go and grab his own food. Salem moved toward the hatch when he realized something. Salem checked his watch and he hasn't had anyone report in to him in over fourteen hours. "The hell is going on?" He whispered.

Salem pulled a radio from his coveralls. He saw that the radio was still charged and that it was on. Why didn't anyone contact him? He scowled at the volume dial. It was turned all the way to zero. He shook his head and turned the volume up to seven. "This is Salem, report in." He spoke into the radio.

All that greeted him was white noise. That was weird. He switched the radio to broadcast on all channels. "This is Salem, anybody alive out there?"

More white nose. He didn't like this. He decided to try one last time. He pressed down on the transmit button. He froze. He felt something slide past his leg. He looked down and couldn't believe what he was seeing. He saw a long black segmented tail wrap between his legs. His hands shook violently, making the radio rattle. What the hell was he looking at? He felt like screaming but his voice was stuck in his throat. He heard a hiss. Salem closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. He was seeing things. He had to be seeing things. He was going to turn around and open his eyes, nothing will be there.

Salem turned around, slowly. He felt his legs press against the segmented tail. The tail coiled up his calf. He told himself he was imagining the sensation. He turned completely around and opened his eyes. _Oh god…_

Salem stared in horror as he gazed at a creature that seemed to come from his very nightmares. Its elongated head rose up and greeted him with a mouth full of razor sharp teeth. Salem was frozen stiff as he watched the nightmare spread its arms for him. The creature looked to be more mechanical than organic. The slow and graceful motions it made around him seemed hypnotic. The creature held its arms out waiting for an embrace, it seemed forever patient. Salem didn't make a sound, he just stared as the creature's segmented tail crawled up his back and pushed him toward its grasp.

Salem screamed as the creature grabbed his head violently. He tried to struggle. His body finally snapping out of the hypnotic trance he was in. Salem wrenched at the nightmare's arms but it wouldn't budge. He couldn't believe the strength it had. Salem cried as he watched the monster open its mouth of silver fangs. He saw a second mouth filled with even more fangs and that too as well opened. Salem screamed out for help as loud as he could. Someone help him please. He cried and sobbed but no one would come, he was alone in death's embrace. He screamed one last time and then he screamed no more…


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

**Salvage vessel: Eliza**

**Quietus Star system**

Darkness surrounded the interior of the ship. The ship was as silent as a tomb. A hiss of air sounds and the lights begin to flicker on. Life support slowly came back online from long months of inactive use. The lights illuminated a room. In a circle twelve metallic pods laid. They all carried a single human being. The pods opened and the hissing of air flowed around the room. Slowly one began to stir…

Flight Lieutenant Samuel Colt stirred in his pod. He groaned as he slowly awakened from his long sleep. He sat up and breathed. His head titled at an angle and a smile spread his lips. He was awake and alive. He was pleased that the crew and him weren't forever lost in deep space. He looked around and saw the others starting to stir in there pods. He smiled softly. Being awake only meant one thing. They have come across a possible pay day.

#

"Oh man, it feels so good to eat some food." A ginger haired scruffy mechanic by the name of Eric Patterson spoke at the table.

Colt smiled and shook his head at the man. No one told Eric that his bright orange hair had been sticking up in every direction humanly possible. "Hey, what's so funny?" Eric smiled.

"Nothing just that you look like a talking super nova." Colt chuckled.

Colt watched as Eric reached up to check on his hair. Colt tried his best to hold in a laugh but he completely lost it. "Oh fuck you man!" Eric swore.

"Hey, we decided to respect your privacy and not mention it." An African American woman by the name Shanti Smith another mechanic smiled at Eric.

Colt shook his head and went back to eating his noodles. Eric and Shanti had a thing for each other and he believed they will be sneaking off to do the evil deed when no one is looking. He never thought he'd miss the taste of stale noodles but his body clearly was carving the reprocessed crap. "Colt, you really are packing that crud down aren't ya?" Navigational Officer Katarina Vasilev spoke charmingly through her Russian accent.

Colt arched his eyebrow and looked at the raven haired Russian beauty. She looked right back at him with her light blue colored eyes. Colt smiled and went back to eating his bowl of noodles, causing Katarina to have a fit of laughter. Colt had a thing for Katarina and she had a thing for him. They were what others would call joined at the hip. It was really nothing but a fling. He didn't think it was too strange, he was the pilot and she was his co-pilot. Colt winked at Katarina as he slurped up another noodle. She shook her head and gave him the _you're_ _bad_ look with her eyes. Colt grinned and took a swig of his orange juice.

"Hey exo, I got a question." A Hispanic man by the name of Jesus Gomez spoke to Colt.

Colt looked at Jesus. The man was the ship's doctor and he was known to have a gambling problem. Colt figured this was either going to about money or why they were awake. "Well, what is it Jesus?" Colt motioned toward the man with a wave of his hand.

"Why are we up? Did the ship find us a pay day?" Jesus asked eagerly.

Colt swore the man saw, smelled, and heard dollar signs. "That's the obvious conclusion isn't it?" Colt answered with another question.

"Ah c'mon man." Jesus whined. "That has to be it right? So c'mon what did the ship find?"

Colt shook his head and smiled. "Does it look like I had time to go check?" Colt chuckled as he motioned around the mess hall.

Jesus smiled. "Ah c'mon. Everyone knows that the cap and you are close. She tells you everything."

Colt smiled. Jesus was right about that. Colt and Captain Sandra Williams were close friends. Colt had served with her for about twelve years now, six as a colonial marine and the other six as her right hand on this rusted old salvage operation. Colt didn't complain though, the salvage business had made him a fairly large fortune, he had about a few million stashed away in his bank account. He couldn't say the same for Jesus though. The man kept gambling away his profits. "Jesus, seriously I don't know what we found yet. I haven't had time to talk to Sandra yet." Colt was the only man on the ship allowed to refer the captain by first name.

"You serious man?" Jesus complained. "Be nice to have at least a clue how big this haul is going to be."

"It's going to be a big one." A low husky feminine voice sounded behind Colt.

Everyone froze and looked toward Colt's direction. He smiled and turned around, in front of him stood an athletic built red head with sharp green eyes. She smiled at Colt warping the razor wire scar on her cheek. For a woman in her mid-thirties she was beautiful but the scar made her look more like a pirate queen than a princess. She had no sign of visible wrinkles and she still looked as vibrant as the day she became Colt's commanding officer in the corps. Colt stared at the badass bitch everyone referred to as captain. He smiled at Sandra Williams. "How big, cap?" Colt barked out.

Sandra smiled at him and winked. "Huge. It's a space station." Her eyes shined with greedy promises.

Colt smiled as he heard the others cheer in success. He continued to watch Sandra. He wasn't entirely honest. Sandra and he had an even larger past. They were lovers once, maybe they still were he wasn't sure anymore but they still made damn good partners in the salvage business. "A space station, out here?" Colt asked.

Sandra nodded and chuckled. "Yep an abandoned Weyland-Yutani station, after all it looks like no one saw it for some time."

Colt arched an eyebrow. How can a person lose a space station? "Anything in the database that says why it's lost?"

Sandra cocked her head to the side and motioned for Colt to follow her to the bridge. Colt nodded and followed after her while everyone was cheering about how rich they were going to be. Yeah a space station would be the jack pot of all salvage jobs. Colt had his suspicions though. If the station belonged to the company and was abandoned, it just simply couldn't be good. His life in the corps taught him that much. "So exactly how does a multi-trillion dollar company lose a space station?" Colt asked with a cocky straight tooth smile.

Sandra chuckled and led them onto the cramped bridge. She leaned against Colt's pilot station, tempting him with her eyes. Colt knew what she was doing. She was going to try to seduce him so he'd forget about asking about the station. This was why there relationship didn't work out in the first place. Every time he wanted a question answered she'd offer sex instead. Colt walked up to her and grabbed her hips. He pulled her to him and kissed her passionately on the lips. Sandra moaned and wrapped a leg behind his hip. Two can play at this game. He pulled back and smiled. "So, the station?"

Sandra groaned and pushed him away. "Christ Sam, I try to get my rocks off on a big find and you interrogate me?"

Colt chuckled. "That's an exo's job right? I'm just looking out for everyone."

Sandra moaned and stomped her foot. "C'mon Colt, how about we fuck first and then I tell you?"

Colt laughed, he laughed so hard his lungs hurt. "Every fricken time Sandra. C'mon just for once stop playing with my dick and tell me about the station."

Sandra bit her lower lip. She swayed her hips and cocked her head to the side. She looked up at him through her green eyes and lifted the side of her shirt, exposing her pale belly. "You sure you don't want to Colt?" She whispered a suggestion of heated fevered pleasures.

Colt really wanted to, he always cared for Sandra and even he lusted for her still in his dreams. She felt right to him, unlike Katarina who was just a fuck buddy. He could see she still cared for him too. Hell they still occasionally slept together behind the crew's back. He groaned and shook his head. "Stop, please." He begged. "Or I will bend my Captain over my station."

Sandra giggled. "That sounds like fun, are you going to relieve me of command?" She teased.

Colt reached out and grabbed the back of her head. He was about to lose it. He found his strength and smiled. "You are too easy to play cap." He whispered. "Now c'mon tell me, I just want to know what we're walking into."

Sandra moaned in protested and pushed him away again. "Ok, fine." She muttered. "I guess Katarina is better for you."

Colt rubbed the back of his neck with his hand and groaned. "Don't bring Kat into this. You know she's just a fling." Colt said.

"Yeah, well what about us Colt? We broke up and yet we still screw? Ever thought of that? Are we fuck pals too or more huh?" Sandra was trying her best to change the subject from the station.

Colt didn't know what to say, she had him in the proverbial corner on this one. He shrugged and that just seemed to anger her more. He could count the steps Sandra was performing, first she tried lust, now she is using anger, next will be guilt. "Well are we an item still or not? I want to know!" She shouted.

Colt covered Sandra's mouth with his hand. "Be quiet will you? Do you want the crew to hear us?"

Sandra glared at him through her green eyes. She bit the inside of Colt's hand. Colt pulled back his hand and cursed. Sandra sneered. "Oh I get it. You just don't want that Russian piece of ass of yours to hear." Sandra sobbed. "Am I not good enough for you? Didn't I care for you every way I could?" Great there was _guilt_.

Colt lost it. "Fine if you're going to play these mind games then fine. It was your idea to break up, remember? It's also your idea to come back and seduce me every time you feel like it. Luckily for you, I'm a god damn horn dog. Now if you aren't going to answer the question, I will be leaving now." Colt snapped and turned to leave.

Sandra hugged him from behind. "Please don't go okay? I'll tell you." She sighed. "I just wanted to celebrate."

Colt sighed, like he hasn't heard that one before. "You'll answer my question then?"

"You have my word Sam." She whispered.

Colt nodded and turned around. Sandra went back to lean on his pilot station. She looked at him. "This doesn't reach anyone else, ya hear?"

Colt smiled. Finally they were acting like business partners and not a bickering couple. "You know you'll always have my word Sandra." Colt said.

Sandra smiled at his comment. He figured every time he said that it gave her some form of comfort. What he said was true anyways. He wouldn't share anything that went on between them. "Ok, the data base says the Station was lost in a meteor storm. Yet our computer found no sign of meteorite damage. Weyland-Yutani covered its destruction up."

Colt swore. "You gotta be fucking kidding me?"

Sandra shook her head. She definitely wasn't kidding. "So why are we even trying to salvage something that even the company wants hidden?" Colt asked.

"Well, it's a jackpot. That station is a deep space research station. It's full of expensive equipment and it was covered up by the company. Just imagine how much its database alone is worth, especially to a competitor." Sandra smiled.

Colt nodded his head. That station would definitely by the jackpot of all jackpots. They are looking at millions, maybe even billions in profits. He just didn't like how its destruction was covered up. He thought about it, does the risk justify the reward? "They must have had a good reason to just abandon it." Colt spoke casually.

Sandra eyed him and smiled. "Yeah for them. However I can think of a million good reasons to why we should uncover it."

Colt had enough to retire already. Did he need the extra risk for one last big haul? He walked out to the observation window. He could see the station in the distance. It was orbiting a blue frozen moon. Behind the moon laid a huge blue gas giant, its rings were a lot like Saturn's. "How long has the station been missing?" Colt asked.

Colt felt Sandra creep up behind him. She placed her hand on his hip and leaned her head on his shoulder. "Five long years." She spoke softly. "Damage appears minimal from scans."

Colt nodded his head. Something that happened five years ago would be long gone. Yeah, he could accept the risk. All that would be on that station would be ghosts. Ghosts that have been falling inside the black for five years. He wanted to bring those ghosts to light. Colt could smell the money already. "Will this be our last haul captain?" He asked.

"Yes it will, Sam." She bit her lip and moaned playfully. "We can retire together and live the rest of our lives on a warm beach."

Colt chuckled. He really liked the sound of that. "Well, when do I start?" He turned and smiled at the green eyed temptress that was his captain.

Sandra giggled a heavenly sound and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I thought you'd never ask."


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

**Salvage Vessel: Eliza**

**Quietus Star System**

Colt chewed on a piece of gum as he watched Sandra brief the crew. The other six who weren't in the mess this morning were now in attendance. Colt looked at the four to his left as Sandra went over some of the basic details of the brief. Cole Dalton was the ship's chief of security and he was a hard man. The man had a shaven head and cold blue eyes that have seen too much in his past career as a police officer. Sara Hood a blonde haired talkative ditz serves as the ship's chief engineer. Sara made sure all of the extremely technical things on board the Eliza and say the space station remained working. Salvaging broken technology isn't too profitable. Lucas Donovan a portly fellow served as the ship's head chef and the fact that he didn't cook the crews first meal today really ticked Colt off. Colt fond Lucas' cooking great but the man was lazy.

The other three to his right who were standing with the rest of the crew were newer to the ship. Everyone but those three served with Sandra and Colt for over two years. The fresh boots were the ones Colt suspected the most. People figured he was just paranoid and maybe he was but he still didn't like fresh boot either way they look. The most decent one was James Vigor who acts as the ships personal hacker and safe cracker. The guy had combed back black hair and brown eyes. If you needed to get your hands on some secure information, James could get it and he seemed like a nice guy but Colt still wouldn't trust him with his bank information. The ship's nurse Cathy Wilmore is a curvy brunette with a questionable bedside manner. At times she was warm and other times she was an utter cold hearted cunt. Colt didn't like her because she loved to gossip. The last one is by far the worse of the three and he is a mechanic. Chris Baker a blonde haired middle age man and a complete utter drunk. Every time Colt turns his back on the guy, good old Chris ends up buzzed on anything he can get his hands on.

"Well from what the computer can tell is that the station is pretty much shut down, power draw is low." Sandra said casually.

James smiled. "Most likely because the station is abandoned? No need for full life support, or if any at all."

Sandra chuckled. "Well someone is paying attention. There is some life support running on the lower engineering levels, mainly by the primary cooling unit and main reactor."

Colt was surprised and butted into the brief. "Wait, why is there any life-support at all, wouldn't the station computer power down all systems when there's no one onboard?"

Sara nodded her head. "Yeah that is a bit strange, but it could be a short, maybe when the station was deserted the computer couldn't power it down all the way."

Sandra cocked her head to the side. "Will some life support be a problem?" She smiled.

Colt chuckled. "No way, now I'm worried about restoring rest of life support to the station."

Sandra nodded. "Good, anyways let's continue." She smiled at Colt, a sign for him to shut up. "We already docked the ship, like most of you know. We just used the starboard umbilical and docked with their port airlock."

Colt liked the sound of that, he wanted to get boots on the station as fast as possible and the port airlock according to the schematics is closer to the station's command center. He wanted to know every little dirty secret that floating metal tomb held. "From there we will split up into two teams. Team one which is headed by me will go to the command center. Team two, which will be headed by Colt will go down to engineering." Sandra explained.

Colt felt like cursing, he wanted the command center but he figured he shouldn't be surprised. Sandra is the captain and she gets the glory first. "I want Eric, Shanti, Sara and Chris to go with Colt. After all engineering will be the best place to access the damage on the station. Everyone else is with me." Sandra smiled. "Lastly, until life support is completely back online I want you all suited up."

Colt glared at the fresh boots as they complained about the suits. "Hey!" Colt barked. "Listen up, those suits are there to save your goddamn lives, but if you really want to asphyxiate and die then be my guest. The rest of us will just collect your share."

James looked back at Colt and back at Cathy and Chris. He shook his head. "There won't be a problem, sir."

Colt smiled and nodded, at least James had a head on his shoulders. "Well now that we are done with all of the issues." Sandra butted in and smiled. "Let's all get suited up. Colt and Dalton I want you guys carrying pulse rifles."

Colt smiled. "Yes, captain. Dalton on me, let's go get armed up, we'll meet everybody in the air lock say, ten minutes."

Sandra nodded. "That will be perfect, Colt."

#

Colt sat on a bench staring in front of his arms locker. His heart was racing. He felt excited about the whole thing. They found the jackpot and it was just lying there, waiting for them. He spent six long years as a salvager. He had salvaged small personal ships to military abandoned frigates and had numerous back room black market deals for his salvage. Now they found a space station, this was the big one. The last great big haul, they just needed to get the product. That will be the tough part after that a buyer should be no problem. A station out here and covered up should carry a lot of secrets with it, profitable secrets.

Colt grinned at his thoughts of rich retirement. He was in his early thirties and he will be able to live like a king after this. He chuckled and stood up. Colt opened his locker pulled out his old M41A pulse rifle. He took that rifle with him after he got out of the corps. Colt and that rifle have been through hell and back together. He put down colonial revolts and took down black markets terrorist cells, even the occasional military skirmish in the outer colonies. He loved this rifle that he named it after his own mother, Rose. The rifle took care of him like his mother did by getting rid of every scum bag that dared tried to hurt him. He slammed a magazine home and pulled on the charge handle. The LED magazine counter on the side read ninety-ninety rounds left in the magazine in red lights. He smiled. Hopefully this will be the last time he will have to carry this rifle. He slung the rifle over his shoulder and grabbed his EVA helmet. "You all set Cole?" Colt barked out.

Cole Dalton came around the corner and looked at him. He chuckled and nodded. Cole held up his rifle and helmet. They both had their EVA suits on, which was nothing but a very slim space suit, looked more like a silver jump suit than anything else. "I'm all set, Colt."

Colt smiled, that's what he loved to hear. He always got along well with Cole. He figured it was because Cole was a cop and Colt himself was a marine. The both of them weren't all too different. Both have seen some form of combat and walked through their own version of hell. Colt nodded and pulled his helmet over his shoulders.

The helmet completely enveloped his head and connected to his suit at his shoulders. Colt double checked his air seals and started his air flow. He took in a deep breath and gave a thumbs up to Cole. Colt watched as Cole pulled on his own helmet and began cycling air through his suit. Cole gave a thumbs up back. Colt spoke on his headset. "You read me Cole?"

"Five by five, loud and clear sir." Cole spoke back.

Colt chuckled. "Alright, let's not keep the others waiting in the air lock."

"You got your side arm sir?" Cole asked out of the blue.

Colt smiled and nodded. He always kept his old Colt M1911 on hand. "It's under my suit, why?" The pistol wasn't vacuum sealed so it wouldn't do him any good in space if he ended up taking a spacewalk.

Cole chuckled. "Just making sure sir, we don't want to forget both Colts now do we?"

Colt laughed and turned for the hatch. "Let's get going, chief."

Colt walked with Cole to the ship's starboard airlock. They cycled the inner hatch open and were greeted by the crew. Colt and Cole were the only ones with their helmets and suits pressurized. He shook his head, he at least expected the captain to have her helmet on. "I turn my back for ten minutes and the rest of you guys get lazy?" Colt spoke through his suit's speakers.

Everyone chuckled and Sandra flipped him the bird. He smiled. "Well c'mon cap you're supposed to be setting the example right?" He teased.

Sandra shook her head and pulled her helmet over her shoulders and began cycling air through her suit. "Alright, everybody do what your upstanding exo is doing." She ordered with a chuckle.

Colt smiled at how everyone pulled there helmets on and started there suit checks. He rolled his shoulders and stretched. His range of movement checked out. Colt unslung his pulse rifle and walked to the outer airlock hatch. He nodded his head at Cole and the man sealed the inner hatch. All twelve crew members of the Eliza now stood in the cramped airlock together. Colt looked at his captain. "So how do you want to do this?" Colt spoke through the comm.

Sandra looked at Colt and he could tell she knew what he was asking. Colt wanted control over the breach and she knew this was his playground now. She smiled and Colt's heart raced. "This is your ball game now, Colt. Get us in safely." She said with a nod.

Colt smiled. "Just like the old days." He turned back to the crew. "Ok, everyone you know the drill. I got the ball so follow my lead." Colt sounded in command, falling back on his experience as a sergeant in the corps. "Cole, I want you directly on my six, I'm on point. Sara and James how are those motion trackers?"

Colt watched as Sara and James held up a metal square shaped object. They flipped a screen open on the object's side and a loud pinging sound came over his head set. He smiled at the sound. He was glad he took the time to buy the trackers on their last drop off. "They check out." Sara replied.

Colt nodded. "Okay, Sara stay behind Cole. Let's move out people."

Colt turned to the outer hatch and hit the release. A screen on the hatch's control panel lit up and stated that air and pressure are in the hold and that did he wish to continue. Colt hit yes and the hatch cycled opened with a hushed hiss. With a pressurized umbilical attached to the station there was no need to vent the hold. They were only wearing suits because they didn't know how safe the air is on the station.

Colt took point and moved out onto the umbilical first. He looked out at the station ahead of him. Its dark steel hull waited ahead of him. He could see the yellow Weyland-Yutani logo on the airlock. He never thought he'd be happy to see that W and Y in his life. Colt looked to his left and gazed out into space through the transparent umbilical wall. The void was impossibly black and it seemed to reach out to him, he had a feeling of dread. He looked over to his right and saw the ringed gas giant. The planet was beautiful. He looked back to the airlock. He had enough gazing at the scenery. Colt started walking with his rifle pointed ahead of him.

Colt could hear his every breath echo in his helmet. He was excited. He just didn't know what could be waiting behind that airlock door. He smiled. He figured his rifle would do little good anyways. Colt figured Sandra only had him bring it out to give the others a false hope of security. This rifle of his was only good against a live threat. Chances are any threats they encounter will be of the technical nature. The station is supposed to be abandoned anyways. Colt reached the outer airlock to the station.

Colt stood to the left of the umbilical wall and took a knee. Cole took the right and did the same. They aimed directly at the hatch. "Sara move up. Run a bypass if you can."

"Roger." Sara said and walked up to the airlock door.

Colt watched as she slung the motion tracker over her shoulder and pulled open the airlock's control panel. Sara pulled out a mobile hacking unit from the bag she carried at her hip. "You know I could hack the door faster?" James said over the comm.

"James?" Colt said.

"Yeah?" He replied.

"Shut up." Colt ordered and he heard chuckles over his headset.

Sara remained professional and focused on the task at hand. Colt watched the hatch as the engineering chief worked on bypassing the locks. "Got it." She said and the outer hatch opened.

Colt and Cole stood up and moved as if they were one mind. They walked into the airlock's hold. The airlock was bigger than the Eliza's Colt noticed. The room seemed untouched and it seemed the hold's lighting was out. That was to be expected, life support would be minimal until they got to engineering. Colt reached up turned on his helmet light, everyone else followed his example. "Ok Sara, on my mark open the inner hatch."

Colt waited several heart beats. "Mark." He said and on cue the inner hatch opened.

Colt walked in. He instantaneously took in that the hatch was at a T intersection. Colt automatically went left and Cole went right. "Clear!" Colt called out.

"Clear my side." Cole said.

"Ok, we split up into two teams, engineering team with me. Motion trackers up. Let's move people." Colt said with a smile, _they were in._


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

**Cerberus Station**

**Quietus star system**

The station was dark. All that seemed to greet Colt was an unfathomable blackness. His helmet light did little to penetrate the darkness. He could hear the little popping sounds of the motion tracker. His team was alone, in the cold dead shadows of the station. He looked at the bulkheads and saw that they were covered in frozen vapor. The station wasn't just dark, it was cold. "Sara how far do you think we are from main engineering?" Colt asked, deadpan.

"There should be a ladder up ahead that leads to the lower levels." She spoke softly.

Colt could tell that Sara seemed nervous, he didn't blame her. The place was spooky. Colt always found it strange how a place long abandoned out in space could cause such anxiety. He inhaled through his nose. This place was just another tomb, nothing in these dead corridors. _Relax, marine_.

Colt saw the ladder to his right. He held up his hand, signaling the others to stop. Colt walked to the ladder and aimed down. He couldn't see anything. "Sara, get a read on what's below us."

Sara walked up next to him and aimed the motion tracker down. _Pop…pop…pop…ping ping ping_. "Contact twenty meters..." Sara said. "Wait, it stopped."

Colt bit his lip. He didn't like it. "What level is at twenty meters?"

Sara turned and looked at him. Colt can see her blue eyes filled with irrational fear. She was nervous, he didn't like it. Colt put his hand on her shoulder. "Sara, we've done this multiple times, it's just a different place." Colt assured her.

Sara's eyes softened. "Yeah," She took a breath. "Engineering is around there."

Colt nodded, and smiled. It was most likely a false positive. The motion tracker rang out again over his head set. He snapped his rifle back to his shoulder and sighted down the shaft. "What's the read?"

Sara's voice was frantic. "Eighteen meters, and climbing. Fourteen meters, its fast."

Colt swore. He couldn't see shit in this darkness. He had no target. The motion tracker stopped sounding. "Where did it stop at?" Colt asked.

"Ten meters." Sara replied.

Colt figured that was about two decks down. "Ok I'll go down first. Don't follow me down until I give the word." Colt slung his rifle and gripped the ladder.

"Are you crazy Colt?" Eric spoke up. "Who knows what the fuck is down there?"

Colt turned his head and smiled. "Eric, you're right. I don't know but it's most likely just a false positive." He chuckled. "You know some long moving part to the reactor or something."

Colt started climbing down before anyone else would try to talk him out of it. He didn't blame them, he didn't like the sound of a moving object either and the deadness of the station wasn't helping. He climbed down the ladder slowly, rung by rung. He kept his eyes focused on his surroundings. He made it to the next level and got off. He looked right and left. He saw nothing but cold dark corridors. He looked up at Sara and waved, trying to make everyone feel better. "Ok, guys I got one more level to go." He said. "So far, so good."

Colt looked down through the hole that leads to the next level. He reached into one of his suit pockets and pulled out a flare. He snapped the top of the silver wand and it flared to life with bright blue light. He dropped the flare down, hoping it would land on the next level. It landed right at the lip of the deck floor by the ladder. Colt smiled. It looked clear, yeah _looked_.

Colt gripped the ladder. He was going to make this fast, if there was something down there he wanted to get the drop on it. He gripped the sides of the ladder with his hands and then his feet. He slid down. When he reached the next level he pushed off and unslung his rifle. He cleared right and then left. All that was in the corridor with him was darkness. He took a breath and chuckled. _Fucking ghosts._

Colt stood up at ease and spoke into his headset. "Anything on the tracker?"

Sara replied eagerly like she missed his voice. "It's all clear."

"Start heading down then." He replied.

Colt switched channels on his radio. "Captain, this is Sam. We're almost to engineering, had some ghost on the tracker a moment ago."

Sandra's voice spoke back to him calmly. "Must be part of the equipment or interference, this place is dead."

"Yeah, that's what I figured." He said with a smile. "Still gave us a bit of a scare."

Sandra chuckled. "I bet it did, this place sure doesn't lack in the spooky department."

Colt laughed. "Yeah." Colt saw something reflective on the deck a few feet from him. "Just thought I should give you an update."

Colt had a feeling that Sandra was smiling, she always liked being updated. "Sounds good, continue with mission, over."

Colt smirked and switched his channels back. He looked back and saw the others looking at him. He gave a thumbs up to them. Colt looked back at the reflective material on the deck ahead of him. He walked to it and kneeled by it. Whatever it was, it was transparent, maybe some kind of oil. He looked up at the pipes above him. He didn't see any leakage. He looked back at the puddle. He reached out with his gloved hand and touched it. He pulled his hand back and saw that it was sticky like some sort of slime or drool. The hell was this stuff? "Hey Sara, any idea what this crud is?"

Sara walked over. "I do have one question. Why the fuck are you touching it? It could be some sort of corrosive liquid. This is close to engineering after all."

Colt smiled. "Is that your professional answer for: _I have no fucking idea?" _He chuckled.

Sara smiled. "Maybe, that goo could be anything."

Shanti giggled. "Looks like our exo found some jello to play with."

Colt looked back at the others as they chuckled. He smiled and walked back to them. He reached out and rubbed the slime off his glove the front of Shanti's suit. "Hey, gross, what the hell man?" Shanti complained.

Colt chuckled. "Creative disciplinary action." His comment was joined by chuckles at Shanti's expense.

Colt smiled and slung his rifle. "Let's continue down shall we?" He said as he gripped the ladder once more and began his decent.

Colt and his team climbed down another level and got off. "I thought there was life support in and around engineering?" Chris spoke over the comm.

Sara shrugged. "I believe it was minimal support. That means no lights."

Colt looked at the walls and noticed no frozen vapor. At least it wasn't freezing. "Well there's heat alright."

"Can we take our helmets off yet? I feel like a sardine in this thing." Eric complained.

"No, we keep our helmets on until we restore life support." Colt stated. "We got plenty of oxy in our tanks anyways." He smiled. "So Sara where to?"

Sara shrugged. "Well," She seemed to ponder. "Yeah, it should be this way." Sara pointed to the left.

Colt chuckled, Sara didn't sound too sure of herself. He shrugged and took the lead. He unslung his rifle and started walking left. Colt noticed this level had a lot more piping then solid bulkheads. They had to be in the very bowls of the station. He walked past a set of smooth glossy looking piping. He froze, did one move? He turned his attention at the piping. The pipe was glossy and remarkably smooth. Colt's light reflected off of its surface. He reached out with his hand and tapped it. It sounded solid but not like steel more like bone. He pulled his hand back, unsure of the _pipe_. "That's one weird pipe ain't it?" He motioned to the others.

The others laughed at him. "It's just a pipe Colt, not some space alien that'll tear your face off." Shanti said with a laugh.

Colt smiled but he could swear one end of the pipe was leaking some sort of fluid. Yeah they had to be right. It was just a leaky pipe. He turned back and continued onward to engineering. Colt heard a clatter and he turned back as did everyone else. Nothing was there in the darkness. "Damn I hate it when machinery makes sounds like that." Sara said.

Colt agreed and turned back around. They continued onward through the dark haunting bowls of the station. Colt smiled, he needed to relax. He was overacting, yeah a pipe made of bone. Real good logical thinking, genius. Colt insulted himself mentally. "I still can't believe Colt got interested by a pipe." Eric chuckled.

Colt shook his head. "Laugh it up, super nova."

Colt came to an intersection. He looked at the bulkhead in front of him. There was a black sign with bright yellow lettering. The sign read that the main reactor was to the left and primary cooling tower was to the right. He led his group left. They walked for about another twenty meters before they walked into a huge chamber. Inside was a huge cylindrical metal object that stood several stories tall. The object was covered with piping and power cables. Colt whistled. It looked like a giant metal pile of spaghetti to him or that could just be his stomach talking. "Is this massive pile of tubes what we are looking for?"

Sara laughed. "Please, the reactor its self is in the room to the left. This is just the primary transformer." She pointed to a room behind a sealed hatch.

Colt looked at Sara as if she was crazy. He didn't understand a word she just said. "Ok, whatever, I don't speak tech geek. " Colt smiled. "Just tell me, is this where we can get some fresh air?"

Sara smiled and nodded. That's all he needed to know. "Alright then, let's get to it." Sara walked to a computer console by the _primary transformer_.

Colt continued to look at the pile of spaghetti. He shook his head. Didn't look like any sort of transformer to him. Then again what the fuck did he know about thermal nuclear energy? _Relax Colt, you're just a grunt, you weren't born with a brain nor are you paid to have one._ His conscious, dressed like a marine drill instructor with a broad-brimmed hat scolded him.

Colt looked back at the corridor that they came from. He couldn't shake the feeling they were being watched. He looked at the other three that weren't doing anything. "Well aren't you three goof balls going to help her?"

Eric chuckled and spoke up. "We just fix stuff boss, we don't know advance computer techno speak." He motioned to Sara.

Colt stared at them. What the hell were those three good for? They could at least bang on some pipes and look like they're working. Colt opened his mouth to give an order when the lights came on, the entire room lit up with bright florescent light. Colt looked down and noticed that the deck was not black but a dull gray. He looked back at Sara and smiled. Finally the darkness has been overtaken by the light.


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

**Cerberus Station**

**Quietus Star System**

Colt chuckled and congratulated Sara on bringing the station back to life. Finally they will have light and fresh air in the formally dark corridors of the station. Colt undid the air seals to his helmet and removed the stifling object. He took a deep breath of the stale air and exhaled. He noticed everyone was looking at him. "Stale, but welcoming." He smiled at them and collapsed his helmet, clipping it to his belt.

Sara shook her head and pulled off her helmet. "Eager as always, some day you are going to take a breath of some really foul stuff."

Colt chuckled. "I'm a Colonial Marine. I've breathed some pretty foul things."

Chris patted Colt on the back. "Ex-marine you mean."

Colt hit Chris on the back of head and smiled. "There are no ex-marines. Once a marine, always a marine."

Sara called out to them as she looked at the computer console she was working on. "Stop measuring your dicks and listen up fixer-upers." Colt realized she was talking to her mechanic team. "I need Shanti and Chris to head over to primary cooling. We got a leak, go lock it down. We don't need the reactor to go critical now."

Eric seemed to take the news a little hard. "Why does Chris go with Shanti?"

Colt looked at Eric. The little super nova looked distraught. "I think it's because Sara knows Chris and Shanti will get the job done and not end up fucking on some overpriced company refrigerator. " Colt smiled.

Sara shook her head at them. "No it's because I need Eric here to help me re-distribute power throughout the station."

Colt looked at Sara with a worried expression. "Not all of the station has life support?"

Sara smiled and shook her head. "It's not that. The station has full life support but not all of it has power. This station has been floating unmanned for years, it clearly has damaged systems."

Colt nodded. What she said did make sense. A station left to its own to float in space for years would need some repairs. Colt heard the captain's voice come over his headset. Colt held up his hand to the others, to show that he needed to listen. "Go ahead, Captain." Colt spoke into the microphone.

"Colt, James is working on hacking the stations database, good work on the life support. I need you up here, I'm at the station commander's office."

Colt smiled. She expected him to know exactly where the hell that was? "That's in the control center I assume?"

Colt heard Sandra chuckle over the comm, he found it to be rather soothing. Funny how even they broke up, her laugh could make him feel so warm inside. "Yes, Sam. I'll be waiting." She purred.

Colt turned red in the face and the others chuckled. "Hey Sam, are you banging our sweet Captain?" Chris spoke up.

Colt turned the man and looked at him dead in the eyes. Colt took a step forward and got right in the man's face. The room grew silent. "Listen to me snot dick." Colt's voice grew hoarse as he spoke to Chris, the man that just stepped in a load of shit. "If you served with us longer than two years then you'd fucking know that Sandra and I have a past." Colt made a sound like he was about to spit. "Now if you fucking dare speak another disgracefully piece of filth again, I will personally shove my boot, clear up your ass that you will have to hop to the infirmary to get it surgically removed. Do I make myself clear?"

Colt watched as the idiot chewed on his lip. Colt saw a bit of tongue slid over the man's lips. Chris opened his mouth. "Yes sir." He whispered.

Colt growled. "I can't hear you!" Colt grabbed the man by his shoulder and pulled Chris to him.

Chris cried. "It won't happen again, sir!"

Colt smiled and nodded. He pushed Chris back and the man landed on his ass in a heap. Colt glared at the man and he could see Chris for the coward that he was. Colt turned his head and looked at blonde Sara. Her eyes were wide. "Sara, make sure Chris here behaves himself, if I come back here and find him out of line, it's on your head." Colt turned and left the room before the startled girl could even protest.

Colt walked down the corridors he covered moments before. He needed to reach the command center and he remembered the corridor by the airlock lead to the command center. He made his way toward the ladder access that he climbed down. He could see it in the distance of the dimly lit corridor. Clearly they station was suffering some form of a brown out, the lighting sucked in here but at least it wasn't entirely black like last time. He noticed the section of piping that distracted him. He stopped at the section and looked for his _bone_ pipe again. His eyes widen. Colt couldn't find the pipe. It was gone. He bent over into the alcove of pipes and looked around, trying to find the pipe. _Where the blasted living hell did that pipe go?_

Colt didn't understand how a pipe just mysteriously ups and moves? He was damn sure this is where he saw it the first time. He saw a glistening liquid on top of another pipe. It was the pipe directly below the one he got interested by. He stuck his gloved hand in the liquid. He pulled back his hand and saw that it was the same goo he found couple levels above. "The fuck is this shit?" He whispered.

Colt leaned his head toward his hand for a smell. He shook his head, it didn't smell like anything. He rubbed it between his fingers. The texture was a lot like saliva just a little stickier. Yuck, he didn't like it. He rubbed the gunk off on another pipe. He heard a hatch behind him open. Colt unslung his rifle and turned around all in a single motion. He aimed through the open doorway. He couldn't see shit, the room was entirely black, clearly one of the sections that needs power. "Hey Colt, you on your way?" Sandra came over his headset again.

Colt ignored her and continued looking in the blackness. His heart raced, he felt like something was watching him, from the darkness. He squint his eyes. He swore he could see a reflection of light, looked to be on some elongated surface. He could barely make out the gleam. His eyes widened as the gleam of light moved. Something was defiantly moving inside there. Colt could hear a faint hiss from inside the room. "Colt, answer me!" Sandra barked over the comm.

Sandra's voice snapped him out of his trance. He looked down and spoke into the comm. "Yeah, I'm on my way." He looked back up and saw the gleam was gone.

Colt shook his head. The light and darkness was just playing with his head. He slung his rifle and walked to the ladder. He climbed up the ladder to the level where the air lock was, the whole way his head was reeling about the missing pipe and that dark room. He figured he was going crazy. Colt smiled at the thought of him being afraid of monsters hiding in dark closets. He was growing soft, he had to be. Colt got off on level B and started walking toward the airlock.

He was pleased to see that the entire level seemed to be brightly lit by overhead lighting. Colt shrugged his shoulder, feeling the weight of his rifle pull against his shoulder. He smiled, as long as he had god old _Rose_, he'd be safe from any monsters.

#

Eric watched as good old drunkard Chris walked his lovely Shanti down to the station's cooling towers. He really wanted to go with his African beauty. He glared at Sara's back, the fucking bitch. "So what am I doing?" Eric asked with a tint of anger to his voice.

Sara looked up at him. Eric figured Sara was lost in her work from her startled expression. The damn girl barely ever looked up from the console ever since they got life support back online. Eric groaned. It made him wonder how much work he was going to have to do. "I'm reading a short by secondary electrical, go check it out." Sara ordered with lack of emotion.

Eric bowed. "Yes oh great slave master." He turned to leave and then stopped and turned around. "Where the hell is that by the way?"

Sara looked up at him and shrugged. She looked back down at her console. "It looks to be right by that mysterious pipe Colt found."

Eric chuckled at the memory of badass Colt getting suspicious of a pipe. He waved his thanks and left Sara to her own devices. Eric made his way down the dimly lit corridors of the engineering level. Yeah clearly there was a short. Great, he hated playing with electricity. He remembered seeing a friend of his trip the wrong circuit. Eric shuddered at the thought of old Johnny getting fried from his careless mistake. The guy smelt like burnt bacon and ass as the Eliza's power rendered the guy into the world's brightest light bulb. Eric shook his head. It was Johnny's death that they got Chris. He sighed. Chris was a waste of money.

Eric stopped and looked at the familiar section of piping. That was the section of piping that Colt found interesting, alright. So the hatch to his left had to be secondary electrical. Eric noticed the hatch was already open. He shrugged and pulled a flash light from his suit pocket. The light blazed to life with a cone of bright white light. He shone it into the room. He saw a mess of wires along the far wall. Eric shook his head, yeah that's definitely secondary electrical. Eric walked into the room.

It was dark alright, darker than the devil's anus, Eric figured. He pivoted on his feet as he walked to look at the entire compartment. The walls were covered in different shades of wiring. The room felt dry, so that was a good sign. He sniffed the air and snorted. Yeah there is a short. He could smell the burnt circuitry. All that he had to do was find it. Eric continued to pan the room. He stopped and looked at a torn open circuit breaker. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. It looked like someone took a can opener to it. He walked over to it. The breaker's casing was torn open in sharp metal petals. "The fuck, did someone put a bomb in here?" Eric muttered as he slid his gloved hand along the torn casing.

Eric shined the light inside the casing and saw that its innards were a complete mess. He swore. How the fuck was he going to fix this? The circuits, wiring and even the insulation were torn completely apart. The insides were literally shredded to scraps. He couldn't find a wire longer than his damn pinky finger. He shook his head. This was no fucking short. It was out right goddamn sabotage. He noticed one of the circuits was smoking. The fucking old girl still had power running. Eric looked at the emergency shut-off lever on the side of the breaker. Maybe it will still work. He pulled on it and the circuit stopped smoking. He smiled. At least he prevented a damn electrical fire. He thought too soon, some of the wires suddenly caught fire. Eric swore, he thought he shut off the damn power. Eric looked around for a fire extinguisher. He couldn't let the fire start to spread. Eric saw a red cylinder with a blue circle on it hanging on the far wall. He smiled and raced for the extinguisher.

Eric fell face flat, he tripped on something. He groaned and looked for what he tripped over. The fuck? He couldn't find what he tripped over. He heard a hiss and looked back at the circuit breaker. The flames roared inside the casing. He cursed and got back up. He ran over to the extinguisher. Eric stuck his flash light inside his mouth and pulled the extinguisher from the wall. He hoped it still worked, no telling how dead the extinguisher is after five years of being forgotten. Eric moved over to the breaker. He pulled the pin on the extinguisher. The extinguisher coughed once and then a white cloud of carbon dioxide came blasting from the nozzle. Eric smiled, happy that the extinguisher still worked. This had to be his _lucky_ day.

Eric dropped the extinguisher and took the flash light out of his mouth. The fire was out and the room was a few degrees colder than it was now. He wiped the sweat from his forehead. _Good job you charming bastard, you stopped a fire._ Eric praised himself. He smiled happily at his work. "Hey Sara, come in." Eric spoke into his headset; he might as well report the good and bad news now.

"Yeah go ahead, Eric?" Sara's high pitched voice came over his headset.

"That short, turned into a fire. The breaker is toast. Nothing I can do about it." Eric said.

"Damn, you put out the fire right?" Sara asked.

Eric rolled his eyes. Of course he put out the fire. He swore Sara could be such a dumb cunt at times. "No, I'm sitting here using it to lite my bloody cigarettes." He barked back.

"Damnit Eric, put out the damn fire, this is no time for a smoke break!" Sara barked back at him.

Eric stood there, just trying to understand the sure idiocy he just heard. Did Sara really believe he was fucking serious? Eric shook his head. He had lost all the remaining respect he had for Sara. "Sara, you do know I was joking right?" He asked.

"You were?" Sara sounded puzzled. "Oh right, of course you were, yeah who would really use a flaming circuit breaker for a lighter?" She laughed nervously.

All that Eric could do was stand in the dark and put his face in his palm. That had to be the dumbest moment of his whole life. "I'll head back now." Eric said and turned off his headset before Sara could speak, he couldn't stand her voice anymore.

Eric sighed and rolled his neck, finally a moment of peace. He has spent six years as a salvager. He paid back all of his debts and he had several hundred thousand dollars to retire on. He smiled. Yeah soon they will tear this station apart and go home to sell. Yeah, he will make sure this will be his last haul. He didn't know how much longer he could stand being out here in space. He figured he'd propose to Shanti on pay day.

Eric shrugged and turned around. He took a step forward and crashed into something. He pulled back holding his head. The fuck? He shone his light ahead of him and blinked. What the flying fuck of Saint Patrick's ass was he looking at? He cocked his head to the side. Looked like some sort of a black metallic torso. Clearly wasn't a human torso, he looked down. He saw it was standing on two feet, _clawed feet_.

Eric's eyes widened. He looked up with his light. Whatever it was, it was tall. God this thing had to be at least seven feet tall. Eric froze when he got to its head. He just stared at it. The head was large and elongated. His light reflected off the smooth surface of its head. Eric swallowed and he had the faint realization that its head looked awfully alike Colt's mysterious pipe. The head rose up from its chest and Eric saw its silver fangs. _So much for alien space monster's ripping your face off…_

The alien opened its mouth. Eric dropped his flashlight, the bulb shattered from impact. He was engulfed in darkness. He tried to scream but all that came out was a groan of pain as something rammed into his chest. He heard his ribs crack. Eric fell to his knees in the darkness. He held his chest. His hand was warm and sticky. He coughed and tasted blood. Eric was dizzy, he fell forward into the blackness and the black caught him. He closed his eyes, his strength leaving him. The pain subsided. He felt nothing…


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

**Cerberus Station**

**Quietus Star System**

Colt leisurely sat in a comfy guest chair. He smiled at Sandra who sat behind the former station commander's desk. Colt notice the man was called _Gay Johnson_. He felt sorry for the poor sonvabitch, hopefully his in a better place now. "Well you look like you're at home." Colt remarked to Sandra.

Colt watched has she rubbed her hands on the maple desk's surface. She smiled at him and moved a lock of hair out of her eyes. She pressed a button on the desk and the office's window blinds closed as well as the door that lead into the room. She leaned back in her chair and pulled down the zipper to her flight suit. All that was under the suit was her black lace bra. Sandra lazily took off her headset. "We did it, Sam." She smiled.

Colt cocked his head to the side. Was she playing with his dick again? He couldn't help but smile. He still didn't know where they stood on a relationship. He always found Sandra confusing. Maybe that's why he liked her? He remembered the fond times they spent in the showers in the corps or in her office during late hours. God those were the days alright. He could remember her cries of ecstasy. Of course that was before she became his salvage captain and turned into a maddening crazy woman that wouldn't give him a straight answer. Colt pulled off his headset and sat it on the desk. "Hey Sandra, do you just use me for my body?" Colt asked with a smile.

"Would it hurt you if I did?" She smirked back at him.

Colt shook his head and laughed. It did hurt him, at least little. He always wanted more with her, and he figured she could give it. After all he knew Sandra suffered from horrible nightmares and when they were together he'd hold her until she stopped sobbing. Yeah Sandra was a tough girl but she had a soft squishy inside. Colt looked at her, admired her green eyes for a moment. "I'm serious, c'mon. Give it to me straight. Is there any hope for us to rekindle our dyeing relationship?" Colt had to know, these past few hours have been making him want a restart.

Sandra looked at him. Colt could see from her eyes that she was thinking. He watched her pupils dilate and return to normal. She looked over his face for any form of deception, he figured. He didn't know exactly how Sandra thought, just that she was thinking. She smiled at him. "Depends, if we do get back together am I going to have an insubordinate navigations officer?"

Colt groaned. Here comes the whole Katarina subject. "We're just sex pals, even she knows that." Colt shrugged.

Sandra leaned into the desk on her elbows. She stared Colt dead in his eyes. "Yeah, but you know women, they grow attached, _Heart Breaker_."

Colt's ears perked up at the sound of his callsign from the corps. That's right, he smiled. He was called the Heart Breaker. He got that name before Sandra even joined up to command his unit. All the other grunts would joke that he had a woman in every port. Colt was only good at two things in his life, being a marine and breaking hearts. Maybe he judged Sandra a little unfairly in their relationship, he didn't know. He chuckled and realized Sandra was the only girl he didn't cheat on when he was going steady. "I will admit you were the only girl that kept me honest, well more honest." Colt said as he looked at Sandra's black lace bra.

Sandra smiled and caressed her sternum. Colt knew she was teasing him. They clearly still had that spark. God if Sandra kept teasing him, he's going to have a major case of blue balls. He groaned and tried to focus on her face. "You seem a little tense, Sam." Sandra smiled.

Colt cursed and shook his head and stood up. Yeah he was tense alright. His damn dick was tenting his fucking pants. He had a marine private standing right at attention to his fucking commanding officer. "I think I'm going to get some air, to cool down."

Colt was shocked to see Sandra climb across the desk. She sat right in front of him and pulled at his waist. She looked up and smiled. "I don't mind restarting, as long as you stop seeing Katarina." She smiled rubbing his crotch.

Colt cursed and Sandra giggled. He swore he could cut the sexual tension in the room with a knife. He felt Sandra pull down on the zipper to his suit. The next thing he felt was her cold slender hands reaching under his shirt to caress his abs. Sandra bit her lower lip and looked up at him. Colt lost his breath at the sight of those big green eyes looking up at him. God she drove him nuts but he could never get enough of her. Colt leaned down and kissed her. He groaned. Sandra's lips were so soft.

Colt felt dizzy when Sandra started to kiss back, softly. There kisses grew more desperate. Colt's heart was hammering in his chest. He pulled back and took a deep breath. Damn he couldn't breathe around her. He looked down at Sandra, she was panting as well. She took his hands and used them to push up her bra. He felt a shiver go up his spine as he felt the soft mounds on her chest. He could feel her nipples press against his palm. "I want you to know, that you were the only man to touch me after the corps." She whispered.

Colt felt his mind throb. God, don't tell him that. He looked down at Sandra. Damn the girl really knew how to play with him. Colt leaned down. "I fucking love you." He whispered before he kissed her.

Colt stood straight up as he heard a knock at the door. "Fuck." He whispered.

Colt turned back and saw Sandra pout with her lips. God that looked sexy. She pushed him back and stood up. She gave him a wink and pulled her bra back down. She pulled up her zipper and walked back to her chair. Colt shook his head and pulled up his zipper. He was so going to have blue balls. Colt sat down. Colt put his headset back on. "Come in!" Sandra said as she pushed the button on the desk.

James came through the door. He looked at Colt and then to Sandra. He swallowed. "I managed to hack the database. This station is loaded with information."

Colt looked at Sandra and saw a smile that would make a pirate blush. He chuckled. He could see the dollar signs in her eyes. "How loaded?" Sandra asked.

"This station was into some pretty questionable stuff. Biological research, the bio labs are stocked full of drugs and machines designed to alter genetic code and that's only the tip of the ice berg." James chuckled.

Sandra nodded her head. "Jackpot."

"You have no idea, Captain." James smiled. "That gene therapy equipment, even five years old is worth millions on the black market."

Colt chewed on the side of his cheek. "How much can we take with us? Surely some of that equipment is completely secured to the station's deck?"

"All of it but the examination beds, we can take." James smiled. "Also I got the research data itself, there's a lot of it."

Sandra perked up. "Let's go see it Sam, shall we?"

Colt nodded and stood up. He motioned for James to lead the way. Colt followed James with Sandra directly behind into the control center of the station. The command center was cramped and full of various consoles that controlled various aspects of the station. In the center of the room was a large flat top console that projected a holographic map of the station. Colt whistled. The company sure went high tech on this scrap heap. "Colt!" Sara's voice came over his headset.

Colt held up his hand for the others to stop. "What is it Sara?"

"Colt, I can't find Eric!" Sara practically screamed it through the comm.

Colt cursed and shook his head. Damn she was loud. "Ok, calm down and listen to me. What do you mean you can't find him?"

Colt could hear Sara practically sob over the radio. God the girl seemed really distraught over this. "I…I sent him to secondary electrical on the engineering level. He said he put out a fire and that he was on his way back. He didn't return." Sara sobbed. "I went to look for him and I found…I found…blood, not much but its blood Colt."

Colt swore. "Ok, Sara listen to me. Lock yourself down in the transformer room or whatever. Don't open the hatch unless it's me or Cole got it?"

"I…but…" Sara's voice cracked.

"Damnit Sara stop questioning me and just do what I say ok? Chances are Eric hurt himself and got lost, alright?!" Cole barked.

"Ok, I'll lock myself in. Over." Sara's voice whispered.

Colt sighed and turned to Sandra. "You got that, Captain?"

Sandra nodded. "Take Jesus with you and Cole, you got the ball." Colt was happy Sandra gave him command over the search and rescue.

Colt nodded and spoke into his headset. "Cole come in."

"I'm in the mess sir, what do you need?" Cole replied instantly.

Colt always like how Cole appeared to be on the ball at all times. "I need you to get your rifle and meet me by the airlock. Jesus wouldn't happen to be there with you?"

Cole's icy calm voice spoke volumes of control. "Yes sir, he's right here with me. I figure we're going super nova hunting?"

Colt smiled, god he adored that man. Now only if the rest of the crew was as attentive as Cole. "Yeah, we are, make sure Jesus has his bloody doctor bag." Colt said. "I'll meet you guys at the airlock. Over."

Colt walked back into Sandra's new office and picked up his pulse rifle leaning on the wall. He clicked the safety off and slung the rifle onto his shoulder. He then unzipped his suit again pulled out his M1911 from his shoulder holster. He pulled back on the slide and rammed it back into the holster. He walked out of the office and unslung his rifle. He held _Rose_ in his arms and walked toward the exit. He hoped Eric was just hurt and lost.

#

Colt waited by the airlock. He smiled when he saw Cole making his way down the corridor. The man rubbed the top of his bald head as he was talking to Jesus. Cole looked up and waved over at Colt. Colt nodded. Finally they were here. He wanted to track down Eric as fast possible. While Colt was waiting he checked where secondary electrical was with Sara, it was that black room by his missing _bone pipe_.

Colt waited for the others to walk up to him. He noticed Jesus seem nervous. Jesus' brown eyes seemed to look at everything around them. Colt waved his hand in front of his Jesus face. "Hey are you ok?" Colt asked.

Jesus seemed startled by the question. "Yeah, just nervous that's all. Sara found blood but no Eric?"

"Yeah, relax the guy most likely wondered off and got lost." Cole said with a cock of his head.

Colt nodded and smiled at Jesus. "Cole is right, I mean c'mon the station is dead." At least Colt hoped it was dead, the place has been giving him the creeps ever since he step aboard.

Jesus chuckled nervously. "Yeah, you're most likely right. Still this place is creepy."

Colt agreed with the doctor on that, but he wouldn't say it. He needed to appear in control. "Let's get going." Colt said and started walking down the corridor toward the ladder access.

They walked through the corridors in silence. Colt looked both ways through every intersection with the vague suspicion something would jump out at him. His mind was racing over the coincidence of the dark room that Eric disappeared in. He remembered thinking that there was something moving in the darkness. He quickly killed that train of thought. No way could anything have been in there. Still Colt felt anxious, something happened to Eric and they needed to find him. "Why don't we try to reach him on the comm?" Jesus squeaked.

Colt rolled his eyes, the man just squeaked and nothing had happened. "I'm sure if Eric was hurt and able he'd be calling out to us on the comm." Colt remarked.

Colt reached the ladder and led his team down to the engineering level. Best place to start would be in the secondary electrical room. Colt made the short walk to the room and walked inside. It was dark. Colt pulled out a flash light from his suit pocket and twisted the top of it. The thin black flash light was no bigger than his hand. Colt rubbed his thumb over the Velcro strip on the light's shaft. He set the light on the Velcro strip on his shoulder. The Velcro strip on the light's shaft stuck to his suit. It wasn't much light but it was something at least.

Colt could see the burnt out breaker in the back of the room. There was a fire alright. Colt didn't like this, not at all. He walked forward and searched the deck. Colt froze and looked down at a dark spot on the deck. He swallowed, and kneeled. Colt had a suspicion of what the dark spot was made of. He reached down and pressed his fingers to it. He pulled his hand back and looked. His index and middle finger were coated with blood. Colt stiffened his jaw and turned back to the others. "I got blood here. It has to be Eric's. You guys see any blood trail?"

Colt watched as his group wandered about the room. Cole looked at him and shook his head. "I got nothing either." Jesus said from near the exit.

Colt felt like cussing to high heavens. He opened his mouth to speak but came up short when he saw his light reflect off another liquid. The puddle was about a foot from the blood spot. He reached his hand over and touched it. He froze. It's that damn slime from before. He started to believe running into this slime was more than a coincidence. "Jesus come over here, you wouldn't happen to know what this shit is?"

Colt waited for Jesus to kneel beside him. He was amazed to hear the man make a startled sound of surprise as he grabbed Colt's hand. Colt grew disturbed when Jesus sniffed his gunk covered fingers. Jesus ran his hands through Colt's and nodded. "I think it's organic. Like some sort of secretion or drool. I won't know until I run tests on it of course." Jesus chuckled nervously. "It could be some sort of machine lubricant after all."

Colt stared at the creepy doctor. He looked down and saw that Jesus was still holding onto his hand. Colt glared at the man. Jesus took the hint and let go, looking more embarrassed than scared. Colt motioned to the puddled by his feet. "Collect your sample, _Jesus_." Colt stressed the man's name and stood up.

Colt walked to the exit and looked out into the corridor. The corridor was dim but clear. His mind was racing over Eric's disappearance. Could they have tripped some company security system? Is someone or something still alive on the station? Colt shook his head. The questions were nagging at his very sanity. He just didn't have enough evidence that they aren't truly alone. He groaned. He just wished his feelings would agree with him. He felt like something was watching them from the shadows in the station. Colt cursed and grabbed his ear. "Shit what the flying fuck was that?!" Chris shouted over the comm.

Colt's head was reeling. He groaned. "Chris, this is Colt, report." Colt muttered softly.

"We're at the primary cooling towers and something just brushed past my fucking leg!" Chris barked back.

Colt sighed, they weren't getting anywhere with secondary electrical. They might as well search the whole level. "Stand by Chris. I'm heading down there with Jesus and Cole."

"What why?" Chris' voice was filled with shock.

Colt shook his head and frowned. "We're searching the whole damn level, you know Eric went missing."

"Right, ok Colt, We'll hold position." Chris' voice seemed more relaxed now. "Oh shit Shanti what the fuck is that thing?!" Chris' voice screeched over the comm.

Colt's eyes grew wide as he heard Shanti scream over the comm. He turned back to Jesus and Cole. "Double time people! Let's move it!" Colt barked out the order and ran down the corridor.


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

**Cerberus Station**

**Quietus Star System**

Chris Baker groaned. The cooling towers were a goddamn hot house. Apparently running at a temperature of forty degrees Celsius is normal operating temperature. Chris tried fanning himself down with his hand. God he could really go for a beer right now. Hell Chris could use this area as a damn spa to sweat off his beer belly. He looked down at his bulging gut. Yeah he's talking to that mound of gross overweight laziness. He smiled, no wonder he could only date white trash. He looked up and stared at Shanti's ass. Still he wouldn't mind having a little ghetto booty now and again. He groaned. Shanti and he were talking until Sara cried over the comm about how Eric went missing. Damn red haired leprechaun, just had to ruin his game. Now Shanti is all but as silent as a grave over worry. Chris swore this is just one of Eric's pranks to stop him from getting Chris' rocks off with Shanti.

Chris looked up at the grated deck above him. The cooling towers had grated decking from the level above Engineering all the up to the top of the station. Chris smiled as he imagined some company worker in a skirt standing above him. Yeah perfect place for up-skirts alright. Chris froze. Is there something above him? Something landed on his face. He reached up and rubbed at his cheek. Oh gross. Chris cursed. "Oh fucking gross. Yuck." Chris stomped his boots on the deck and threw the sticky gunk on the ground.

Shanti looked back at him. She started to giggle. Chris just stared. Oh now she decides to laugh after thirty minutes of silence. Chris gave her the bird. "Oh you only wish." Shanti chuckled. "Need a towel?"

Chris groaned. He would love to make it so she needed a towel. "Yes you have one?"

"No." She giggled and leaned up against a ladder.

Chris looked at the brown eyed woman. His mind was filled with lewd and angered thoughts. He opened his mouth to make a sexist remark when something moved past his leg. "Shit what the flying fuck was that?!" Chris jumped back and looked about the fucking deck.

"Chris, this is Colt, report." Chris froze as he heard Colt's voice, that guy really scared the piss out of him. "We're at the primary cooling towers and something just brushed past my fucking leg!" Chris barked back into the comm.

Chris saw Shanti cover her microphone with his hand. "Chris look down ahead of you, it's just a bot."

Chris looked down and saw a small glowing sphere on wheels. It had two thin little arms, one arm had a cutting torch and the other had a multi jointed hand covered in a variety of tools. The drone spun in a circle on its wheels like some overpriced RC car. Chris groaned and kicked it down the corridor. Chris looked up and saw Shanti shake her head at him.

"Stand by Chris, I'm heading down there with Jesus and Cole." Chris heard Colt over the comm and didn't like the sound of that one bit.

"What why?" Chris really didn't want Colt breathing down his back.

"We're searching the whole damn level, you know Eric went missing." Colt replied and he sounded agitated.

"Right Colt, we'll hold position." Chris saw something black looming above Shanti on the level above them. "Oh shit Shanti what the fuck is that thing?!" Chris shouted.

Chris watched in horror as Shanti looked up and screamed. Her scream was ear splitting. Chris' lungs burned. He forced himself to breath. He saw the black monster reach down and grab Shanti's chest. Chris didn't think, he just ran toward her. The creature started to pull Shanti up to the next level as she continued to scream at the very top of her lungs. Chris grabbed onto Shanti's legs and pulled. "Chris get it off me! Get this fucking thing off of me!" Shanti cried.

Chris pulled as hard as he could but she wouldn't budge. He looked up through to the next level and saw the creature's elongated head. What the fuck is that thing? He reached up and pulled at the monster's arm. It felt cold and slimy but it wouldn't budge. The monster's arm was like a steel vice, it just wouldn't move. Chris cursed as the creature pulled Shanti up along with him. He brought his legs to the threshold of the deck. He was now upside down pushing with his legs and pulling with his arms as he held on to Shanti's legs. "Let her go you ugly fuck!" Chris cursed.

Shanti continued to scream and Chris' eyes grew wide as he saw the monster's claws dig into Shanti's torso. Chris saw Shanti's suit begin to darken and she began to convulse. He heard Shanti cough and groan in pain. "Oh god, help me Chris! Help _meeeeee!" _Shanti cried.

Chris pulled with all his might. He saw the claw dig deeper. _God that was a lot of blood_, his thoughts rang in his head. Shanti's blood fell over Chris' thighs, chest and his face. He spat out the coppery blood. He blinked the blood out of his eyes and saw the monster's claw move fast across Shanti's torso. Chris heard a gut wrenching rip. The next thing he knew was that he was falling.

Chris collided with the cold hard deck with a loud thud. He groaned and he groaned again as something landed on his balls. He looked up in horror. He saw Shanti floating above him, _half of her_. Chris was frozen to the bone in dread as he looked up at Shanti. He could see her spine and her intestines dangling freely in the air. He looked at her face, it was damp from sweat and she stared back at him in horror. Her eyes grew distant and glassed over. The pain was so much that she couldn't even scream from the shock. She grew ridged. Her head leaned down unmoving. A long cord of intestines fell from her torn wound

The cord smacked Chris in the face snapping him out of his trance. He screamed and looked down. He saw her lower half lying in his lap. He leaned over and threw up. He heaved until he emptied his entire stomach. He heard a hiss and looked up. He saw Shanti was gone and that the elongated monster was staring at him. He couldn't see any eyes, but he knew the beast could see him. Chris turned over and got his feet under him and he ran. He ran as fast as he could.

Tears stung his eyes and he could still taste Shanti's blood in his mouth. My god, what the fucking hell was that thing? He never saw something so fucking horrifying in his life. It looked like it belonged to part of the station's piping system. His mind raced, it was like the station came to life and decided to tear Shanti apart. Chris cried. What the hell could do that to a person? Chris tripped over his feet and slammed his face against the deck.

Chris heard his nose crack. He groaned. He was sure his nose is now gushing blood. He got back up on his feet and heard more hissing behind him. He couldn't stop now. He had to get to Colt. Colt had guns. Chris forced his legs to move and he continued to run. He saw something out of the side of his eye and he turned to look. He saw a long serrated segmented tail fly directly at him. The tail hit him with so much force that it lifted him off his feet and slammed him against the bulkhead. Chris coughed as his ribs cracked from the impact.

Chris sat with his back against the wall. He was vaguely aware of a trench below him to his right. It was a maintenance tunnel that led under the deck. He looked up and saw the monster of blackness stand in front of him. It sure was tall, easily over seven feet he figured. He groaned and leaned to the right. Too much adrenaline was running in his system, he didn't feel much pain, just pressure along his chest. He dove into the trench before the monster could grab him. He groaned and squeezed himself through the shaft, amazed that he fit. He started to crawl under the deck.

Chris wasn't going to let that _Alien_ get him, no way. He vaguely realized that's what that monster was, an alien, only possible explanation. Chris cursed and pushed himself to crawl in the tight cramp tunnel. God if he lives through this he was so hitting the damn gym. He froze and heard thumping above him. Fuck, that thing sounds pissed. The sound just made Chris want to move faster. He was happy that the engineering level deck had steel plating and not grating, otherwise he was sure that fucking thing could just ripped up the damn deck to get him.

Chris saw an intersection up head of him. He noticed it was quiet. God he didn't like that, not one bit. He crawled to the intersection and saw to his left that the shaft led toward another shaft in the wall. He smiled, he had a feeling that shaft would led up. If he could get to the command center he'd be safe. He frowned. He noticed a visible gab between the deck and the wall. It was an access trench.

Chris knew he'd have to risk it. Eventually that alien would get him if he stayed here. He had the vague feeling that it was still around, just waiting. He crawled toward the entrance as fast as he could. He didn't wait to cross the trench but he did it anyways. He got his head and shoulders into the other shaft and pulled himself as fast as he could. His body responded with lightning born reflexes birthed by fear. He got his body through and pulled up his legs. He screamed as black clawed hands appeared right were his foot was in the trench. Christ if he was half a second slower he would have been grabbed and fucked right there.

Chris crawled all the way to the back of the shaft. He found a tunnel where he could stand in. It had small rungs along the side for climbing. He looked up and smiled. The tunneled looked like it went straight to the top of the station. Chris crouched down and looked at the entrance of the shaft he came from. He saw the alien laying on its side looking at him. It stuck its arm through the tunnel and reach for him. It tried to shove its head into the entrance but it got stuck. Chris smiled. The Alien's head was too big for the tunnel. Chris gave the alien the bird. The alien replied by opening its jaw. Chris stared as he saw a miniature jaw shoot out of its mouth. A black liquid fired out of the smaller mouth. Chris barely had enough time to cock his head to the side. He felt the liquid fly past his head. Chris looked back at the wall behind him. He saw the wall start to melt away. The alien just spat him an acid filled lugie. Chris looked back at the entrance and saw the alien was gone. His jaw dropped when he saw the alien's tail snake into the tunnel. Chris cursed and jumped onto the rungs and started to climb.

Chris groaned in pain as his chest flared with pain. He bit his lip and forced himself to climb. He looked down and saw the tail curl around the empty air where he was just standing. How long is that fucking tail? He shook his head and got back to climbing. He was safe now. All that he had to do is climb up to B level. Chris cried and groaned as he took step after step. His chest felt like it was on fire, god who knew a set of fractured ribs could hurt so much. Chris started to pant. He had to keep climbing, if he fell now he'd die. He refused to die. He is not dying out here in some forgotten space station.

Chris looked up, he was thankful for the red maintenance lighting in the shaft though. At least he could see as he climbed. Yeah that's the spirit. Think about stuff like that. He groaned as he climbed higher. He was thankful for all of the good booze he drank in his life. The pussy he banged in high school. Yeah that's the spirit. Good memories are meant to help you through your worse moments. Chris smiled at the memory of him winning the state championship as the quarter back for his high school. Those were the days. He groaned at the thought of how he wasted his life. Now he was just a fat drunk with a set of broken ribs that had a space alien wanting to rip his face off. He shook his head. He committed himself to surviving this and when he does, he is going to turn his life around.

Chris stopped and looked to his left. He saw a set of sliding doors. He looked at the door frame and saw the black bold letterings that said: Level B. He smiled with relief and reached at the handle with his left hand. He pulled and pushed both doors open. The lights were on in the room ahead of him. It looked like he would be walking into some maintenance closet. He saw various dull gray cabinets and lockers on the wall.

Chris reached out with his leg and stepped into the room. He hunched over and sighed. He fucking made it. He saw the exit and smiled that the hatchway was already open. Now he just needed to report to Sandra what he saw. He sighed and walked toward the exit. "Fuck you space alien, I won this round." Chris froze when he heard a hiss sound out from behind him in vile reply.

Chris slowly turned around. He looked above the door frame from the maintenance shaft. He saw a series of pipes. One of them moved. The pipe rotated and looked at him. He saw silver teeth smile at him. _Impossible_. His thought echoed in his skull. He was staring at the face of death, he knew it now and he knew another fact. The only way that creature could be here is if there are two of them. Chris watched as the alien dropped down to the deck. The alien slowly stood its full height.

Chris cursed, he wasn't giving up yet. He turned and ran for the exit. His eyes widen as he saw Katarina appear out in front of the threshold. He saw her light blue eyes widen. Chris made it the threshold. He choked as he felt something erupt through his midsection. Chris saw his blood spray out across Katarina's body causing her to fly back onto her ass in shock. Chris gripped the edges of the hatch frame. He looked down at Katarina. He tasted blood in his mouth. He looked at Katarina in horror. "Help me." He coughed.

Chris looked down and saw the Alien's tail punch clean through his belly. He felt cold and weak. He looked back up to Katarina. He didn't feel any pain, he was in shock. He made it, he knew he made it. All that rang in his head was how unfair life really is. He was vaguely aware of the alien wrapping its arms around him from behind. "Katarina, help…" He whispered looking into Katarina's horror filled eyes.

The alien pulled him back from the hatch. He couldn't fight anymore, he didn't have the strength. He saw Katarina turn and run away from him. He wondered if his eyes looked the same way when he saw Shanti die. He closed his eyes, he lost after all. Life is so unfair…


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

**Cerberus Station**

**Quietus Star System**

Colt stared at lower half of Shanti's corpse. Shanti lay on the floor mutilated, the bits of brown flesh was enough for him. Blood was everywhere around the shaft. His lips were flat and stern. His eyes were expressionless. He was numb. Seeing friends die tend to make a marine numb over time. He sighed and looked away. He didn't want to look at her anymore. "Cole anything on the second level?" Colt called out.

"Nothing, just a shit load of blood. Clearly Shanti's upper half left without the other end." Cole shouted back.

"Can you guys show a bit more respect?" Jesus said.

Colt looked at the doctor. He wouldn't understand. A person who dances with death and spends time with death, slowly loses there humanity around the dead. "She's dead Jesus. There's nothing we can do for her but find out what made her that way." Colt spoke softly.

Jesus looked at Colt. He opened his mouth to protest but he nodded instead. The doctor seemed to understand Cole and Colt. "Very well, Colt." Jesus whispered and kneeled by Shanti's remains.

Colt watched Cole slide down the blood soaked ladder. He nodded to the man. Blood seemed not to bother Cole in the slightest. He saw Cole stare down at Shanti and saw a flare of rage in his eyes. Colt knew that feeling too well. When death comes like it had to Shanti, a man either feels numb or rage. Grief will come later but right now, Colt knew they both just wanted to find out what happened. "She was ripped in half. Her flesh is torn, as if she was attacked by something with claws. There is some other tearing as well, as if someone were pulling on her legs." Jesus said and looked up at the ladder.

Colt watched the man point toward the threshold at the deck above them. "She was suspended between decks. Something was pulling her up. Also there's a boot print on the underside of the deck." Jesus spoke. "Chris was below her, trying to pull her back down. Whatever was above her had to be what cut her in half."

Colt wondered what the hell could do that to a person. He looked up at Chris's bloody boot print. The print was only partial. That would mean Chris was literally upside down trying to save Shanti. "Whatever had Shanti, pulled up Chris as well. Whatever it is, it's incredibly strong." Colt said.

Jesus nodded. "Yeah are correct. Its strength had to be monstrous. It was a game of tug-of-war with Shanti in the middle. Chris lost." Jesus whispered.

Colt nodded his head. "So where's Chris?" Cole asked.

Colt looked down at the deck. He looked around and froze. Behind them he noticed bloody boot prints. "He ran back toward us, apparently."

"So he's still alive? Why didn't we run into him?" Cole asked.

Colt noticed a second set of tracks. They weren't human in the slightest. They appeared to be long and narrow. Colt kneeled by a set of prints. They were bare foot prints. The toes were considerably longer than a human. He saw light scratch marks on the steel just ahead of the print. Whatever chased after Chris had clawed feet. "Whatever got Shanti, chased Chris." Colt stated.

"By the saints." Jesus whispered.

"Sam come in." Sandra spoke over the comm.

"What's up Captain?" Colt replied.

"Katarina ran back to the control center covered in blood. She said she saw something kill Chris." Sandra sounded disturbed. "She was on B level when it happened and she said it had a long bladed tail and an elongated head."

Colt's eye widened. He didn't like the sound of that, not one single bit. When he was still in corps there were rumors about that the lost crew of the Sulaco encountered a hostile alien at Hadley's Hope that had an elongated head. He shook his head his head from side to side. Couldn't be possible, no way in hell those rumors could be true. "Well guys, looks like whatever got Shanti, got Chris." Colt spoke. "I think its best we get everyone to the control center."

Cole nodded his head. "Good idea, we'll be better in a group. Let's head back and get Sara."

Jesus smiled weakly. "Yeah that would be best, and I don't want to stick around here any longer than I have to."

Colt nodded. "Ok then let's-" Colt stopped and looked at a wall of piping, he caught movement.

Colt glared at a pipe and pulled up his pulse rifle. The alien shot clear out of the maze of pipes with its elongated head first as if the whole alien was spring propelled. The head nailed Colt directly in the chest pushing him back into the bulkhead with a thud. He groaned and slid down to his rear. His mind was reeling from the impact. He looked up and saw the alien standing over him. The stories were true, elongated head, black as night and all fifty shades of nasty. The alien loomed over him and it slobbered over his face. Colt cringed. He knew what that gunk was now. "Shoot the fucking thing!" Colt barked and tried to pull up his rifle only to have the alien step on his arm, pinning his rifle to the deck.

Colt cried out. He could feel the bones in his arm on the verge of cracking. The strength of the alien was mind blowing. Damn thing was going to shatter his bones if he didn't get it off him. He looked up at the alien and saw its jaw open. Colt smirked and spat at its face. The alien hissed and brought its head down. Colt heard the loud crack of a pulse rifle. The alien cried out in pain and was knocked to the side from impact. The ten millimeter rounds deflected off its hardened hide and ricochet around Colt and his group. Colt cursed as he felt a round tear into the side of his arm. "Fuck me." He groaned and fell to the side clutching his wounded arm.

Colt looked back at his group. He stared Cole dead in the face. "Keep firing!" Colt barked.

Colt kicked his legs and forced himself to crawl back to the group. He heard Cole spray at the alien on full auto. The sound of the rifle firing was deafening as the shots echoed through the corridor. Colt could feel the rounds race over him with deadly velocity. Colt reached Jesus' feet and turned over to see the alien flail around as it was hammered by Cole's automatic fire. The damn thing just wouldn't go down. The alien hissed and screamed and fell to its knees. Colt stared at it its unmoving form. He could smell the burnt gunpowder in the air and another smell. His eyes widened as he saw the alien's wounds were spilling yellow blood. He watched as it fell to the deck and the deck began to smoke. It had _acid _for blood_._

Colt unzipped his suit and pulled out his sidearm. He pulled back the hammer and got to his knees. "Careful Colt." Cole whispered.

Colt nodded and moved slowly toward the unmoving kneeling alien. He kneeled a few inches in front of it. He kept his pistol trained on it as he reached over to grab his rifle. The alien stayed motionless. Colt sighed and holstered his pistol. He stood up and lifted his rifle. He cringed and looked at his right arm. With all of the excitement he forgot he was hit. "Colt!" Jesus ran to him. "Let me look."

Colt shook his head. "No, you can look at it when we get back. " Colt muttered as he placed his gun strap over his shoulder. "I'm just going to have to deal with firing from the hip, until then."

Jesus shook his head. "Idiot, but it's your call." Jesus stared at the alien.

Cole walked past them and turned back. "I'll take point. Let's get Sara and get back to the captain."

Colt nodded his head. "Good idea."

Colt walked next to Cole. Colt noticed the man seemed relieved to see that he was alright. "Hey guys, I don't see any clear penetration on this thing?" Colt turned around and looked at Jesus.

Colt's jaw dropped as he saw the alien leap toward Jesus. The alien was so fast it was like a blur. To think the thing still had enough strength left to move, yet alone jump. The alien brought Jesus crashing to the deck. It lay on top of the good doctor. Jesus screamed out in horror. Colt ran toward the couple. The alien's tail swept around and knocked Colt's feet out from under him. He felt his head slam against the deck. He saw stars and could barely make out the faint sound of Jesus' screams.

Colt barely heard the single shot of Cole's pulse rifle. The sound was faint, like as if Colt was underwater. He must have taken a good blow to his head. Colt sat up and looked. He saw the alien still on top of Jesus the both of them struggling. Cole missed apparently. Colt opened his mouth to tell Cole to stop firing but he couldn't get his voice to work yet. Another shot ran out and the alien stilled. The back of its head exploded in a fountain of yellow blood. Colt screamed. "No!" The corridor was filled with Jesus' dying screams as he was drenched in acid.

Colt stared as he watched Jesus dissolved into the deck. He stood up and walked back to Cole. Colt looked at the man. He noticed Cole's eyes were distant and his face was covered in sweat. His lips were parted. Cole didn't realize what just happened. "I didn't know…" Cole whispered as he continued to stare at Jesus.

Colt bowed his head. "Let's get going, just remember they have acid for blood." Hitting or yelling at Cole wasn't going to help anything.

"There's more of them?" Cole asked. "How do you know?"

Colt stared at the man, the man who accidently killed there doctor. Colt felt like hitting Cole square in his jaw but he realized Jesus was most likely a dead man anyways. There wasn't a way they'd be able to pry that thing off of Jesus. Colt looked back down toward the corridor. "Chris got it too remember. That means there are at least two of these things running around here."

Cole swallowed and nodded. Colt sighed. "Let's go." Colt said and started walking down the corridor, refusing to look back at Jesus.

Colt walked the dead corridors of the station. The place was infested with hostile aliens and they've already lost four people. He figured Eric was already dead, after all where could he have gone? Colt felt furious. He knew there was something in that electrical room and he knew there was something strange about the pipe and that transparent slime. Colt was so upset he couldn't even feel the pain in his arm anymore. On top of everything else though, Colt felt like total shit. He lost people, saw something he didn't believe was possible and he got the crap beat out of him. He took another step and stumbled. He was dizzy.

Colt felt himself falling. He groaned as he came to a stop. He looked to his left and saw Cole. The man caught him. Colt gazed at his arm and saw that he was leaving behind a trail of blood. He smiled. His wound was worse than he thought. "We should get that looked at." Cole said. "It's bleeding pretty good."

Colt smiled. "It was your shitty shooting."

Cole chuckled. Colt laughed weakly. It was good to laugh a little. "We'll fix it when we get to Sara, that place is secure, I don't want to do it in this corridor. There has to be more of those ugly bastards around here."

Colt looked up and his eyes widened. His vision was slightly blurred but he saw it, a black form at Cole's flank. "Cole behind you!"

Colt saw Cole freeze. Colt felt a tug and he fell to his knees. Cole was ripped from his grasp. Colt watched as the alien lifted Cole up and slammed the man on his back against the deck. The alien lay on top of Cole. Colt couldn't do anything for him. Colt whispered that he was sorry and forced his legs under him. He had to save himself; it was all that he could do now. Colt froze as he heard Cole cry out to him. "Colt help me!"

Colt stopped and turned around. What could he do? He could barely lift his arm, he couldn't aim a weapon. The alien had acid blood and it was stronger than any man. Colt turned around and ran as best as he could down the corridor away from Cole's pleas for help. There was nothing he could do but use Cole's sacrifice to get away. He felt ashamed of himself, but it was the only thing he could do. So he did the one thing that went against everything he believed in. He left a man behind.


End file.
